ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Volume 1, Number 4, 2008 © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/env.2008.0506 How Planning and Zoning Contribute to Inequitable Development, Neighborhood Health, and Environmental Injustice Sacoby Wilson, Malo Hutson, and Mahasin Mujahid ABSTRACT In this commentary, we discuss the ways in which planning and zoning contribute to inequitable devel- opment and how this has implications for the design of neighborhoods, health and health disparities, and environmental injustice. We first discuss the history of zoning and planning in this country and their con- tribution to inequitable development and urban fragmentation. We then describe how the distribution of resources within and between neighborhoods has an impact on neighborhood health by linking neigh- borhood conditions to health outcomes such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. In this commentary, we also discuss the contributions of planning and zoning to environmental injustice and the production of riskscapes. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of social justice and equity in urban re- vitalization efforts and make recommendations that can be adopted to improve local social and physical environments and access to health-promoting resources in disadvantaged neighborhoods. 211 T ODAY MANY OF the largest metropolitan regions within the United States are fragmented with municipalities who are in competition with each other for businesses and the most affluent residents. These municipalities utilize their police powers to control local land use through zon- ing and planning regulations. Zoning and planning con- tribute to inequitable development and this has impor- tant implications for the design of neighborhoods, health, and health disparities. In this article, we provide a brief history of zoning and planning in the United States and its contribution to inequitable development and urban fragmentation, how zoning and planning inequities have led to the differential distribution of resources across ad- vantaged and disadvantaged neighborhoods, and nega- tive public health outcomes. We conclude with a discus- sion on the importance of social justice and equity in urban revitalization efforts and make recommendations that can be adopted to improve the social and built envi- ronments and resource allocation in disadvantaged neighborhoods. 1 HISTORY OF PLANNING AND ZONING The basis for many of our current zoning and planning regulations and standards stem from efforts during the sanitary movement of the industrialization era of the nine- teenth century. Efforts to decrease the spread of infectious diseases were rooted in the dominant view that popula- tion concentration and the proximity between businesses and homes was unhealthy. 2 In the twentieth century, New York City pioneered the first comprehensive zoning or- dinance in 1916 to separate land uses in order to limit hu- man exposure to toxic chemicals and biological agents, improve environmental quality, and protect public health. The zoning approach established by the City of New York was implemented nationally through the Stan- dard Zoning and Enabling Act (SZEA) and still provides the foundation of contemporary zoning regulations. In 1926, the landmark United States Supreme Court case of Ambler Realty Co v. Village of Euclid codified that zoning ordinances are a proper exercise of the state’s police power because they protect the health and safety of the community. Thus, this case provided legal support for the segregation of land, usages, and people in neighborhoods and cities. 3 Schilling and Linton write that this case fore- shadowed exclusionary zoning—the illegal practice of ex- cluding low-income and minority residents under the Dr. Wilson is at the Institute for Families in Society, Univer- sity of South Carolina in Columbia, SC; Dr. Hutson is at the De- partment of City and Regional Planning at the University of Cal- ifornia, Berkeley; and Dr. Mujahid is at the Department of Epidemiology, at Harvard University in Boston, MA.